Pharmacy store chain wants micro-fulfillment centres to cover more than 5,000 stores by year-end
Walgreens is seeking to expand the coverage of its micro-fulfillment centres to more than 5,000 stores by year-end in a bid to further save costs and reduce employee workload, according to reports.
These micro-fulfillment centres refer to a network of robot-powered facilities that can dispense and ship a variety of prescriptions to Walgreens retail stores, according to the pharmacy store chain.
"Our pharmacy micro-fulfillment centres are the pharmacies of the future!" it said on its website. "We're using innovative, robotic technology in a central pharmacy environment. Together, we're making lives healthier and simpler by reaching thousands of patients with life-saving medications each day."
There are currently 11 micro-fulfillment centres that serve up to 4,800 Walgreens stores as of February, CNBC reported.
However, Walgreens told the news outlet that it aims to increase the coverage of these centres to more than 5,000 stores by the end of the year, which can lead to around 16 million prescriptions filled each month across different sites.
The expansion comes in the wake of various benefits reported by Walgreens since its implementation in 2021.
According to Walgreens, these micro-fulfillment sites can handle as much as 40 to 50% of their retail volume, allowing their pharmacists to further focus on patient care.
"Right now, they're the backbone to really help us offset some of the workload in our stores, to obviously allow more time for our pharmacists and technicians to spend time with patients," Rick Gates, Walgreens' chief pharmacy officer, told CNBC.
"It gives us a lot more flexibility to bring down costs, to increase the care, and increase speed to therapy – all those things."
Kayla Heffington, Walgreens' pharmacy operating model vice president, also told CNBC that the centres have generated $500 million in savings after reducing excess inventory and boosting efficiencies.
They helped reduce overall prescription fulfillment costs by nearly 13%, as well as hiked prescription volume by 126% year-over-year.
The centres also have internal tools that can provide real-time data on a patient's prescription in the micro-fulfillment process.
Despite the implementation of robotic technology, the micro-fulfillment sites still require the presence of humans.
The company's website shows a variety of jobs available within the micro-fulfillment centres, including pharmacy technicians, onsite IT leads, and human resources.
To further reduce the burden on retail stores, Gates noted the possibility of directly delivering prescriptions to patients' doorsteps.
"It's only step one right now," he told CNBC.
